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Catherine Pirie

Kate with Chips 1.jpg (1)

Catherine (Kate) was born in Zimbabwe, and spent the first part of her life in Mushandike National Park before moving to the outskirts of Hwange National Park . She left Zimbabwe and moved to Botswana, where her parents ran various lodges in the Okavango Delta, and Kate followed suit, managing safari camps for many years.

She spent time working at various camps learning different aspects of the industry. This also included working on various mobile safaris  in the country, as well as throughout Namibia, and in Sabi Sabi in the Kruger National Park. She helped to build a camp in the Okavango Delta, and then spent time escorting specialist groups in the panhandle in Botswana, including anthropologist and zoologist Lyall Watson. 

Kate ran a houseboat on the Panhandle, and then managed Chilwero and Selinda in the Chobe and Linyanti areas, leading walking safaris. Kate headed Botswana Tourism in London before joining African Explorations and spends much time researching properties for African Explorations as well as being an integral member of the company. Kate is a tremendous birder and is interested in plants.

Kate’s personal favourites:

Wolwedans in the NamibRand -  a full palate of colours and scenically one of the most beautiful places in Africa; Hearing the Indri Indri lemurs for the first time in Perinet, Madagascar. Walking the Bale Mountains with endangered Ethiopian wolves and then sitting amongst a family of 300 hairy gelada baboons on the Simien plateau; Boat rides in the afternoons on the Chobe River, Botswana with almost a thousand elephants in view coming to drink at the waters edge and play in the water; Mokoro rides through water lilies in the Okavango Delta; A dawn walk in Hwange National Park and Mana Pools, Zimbabwe; Luiwa Plains in remote western Zambia; The view from the top of Nteko Ridge, Uganda over seven volcanoes; Snorkelling in the iridescent waters of Lake Malawi and in the Maldives; Nyika Plateau in Malawi surrounded by roan antelope;  and Kate's favourite – the apes – working with chimps in Uganda and then gorilla trekking in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo.


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